The true story of a forgotten period in American history, starting in the 1860s when the country’s newly completed transcontinental railroad lines found themselves serving an unexpected category of passenger: stray dogs that hopped on and off the trains as they wished, often traveling great distances. But rather than being derided as a nuisance, rail crews welcomed them, and as word spread among the public many of these dogs became renowned. There was Jake, several dogs named Railroad Jack, Awful Jack, Owney, and a whole pack of others, some of whom wound up as legitimate celebrities. It was an age in which human vagabonds were vilified, but canine vagabonds were celebrated for turning their tails on society and living out an escapist fantasy of freedom that people oppressed by the work-a-day world could only dream of. Some of these dogs became legitimate heroes to the American public. Eventually the golden age of the railroads lost its glimmer and the fame of the dogs passed, but they kept riding nonetheless. Dogs like Roxey, Jack the Bum, and Brownie, rode even into the twentieth century, when the tracks finally ended. “Go West, Young Dog!,” tells the quirky, heartwarming, triumphant, and tragic stories of dogs for whom a zest for adventure was lure enough to confront the dangers they might along the way, as they followed the tracks, living life to the fullest.
“From archives, newspapers, and incredible photographs, Paul Koudounaris has excavated an American history that is much more than an obscure footnote. These dogs that rode the trains during the golden age of the railroad achieved a freedom that the country has often promised but rarely given. The stories vividly recounted in this book remember them as independent spirits that were no one’s pets as they journeyed fearlessly without the need for a destination. There is inspiration in them for us humans to embrace our own adventures.”–Allison C. Meier, author of Grave
